Pope Francis expressed his concern about the climate crisis and today asked the participants of the COP28 in Dubai to lay the foundations for “a decisive acceleration towards the ecological transition”, in the midst of a critical meteorological situation warned by Organization authorities. World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
“May this COP28 be a turning point, which manifests a clear and tangible political will, which leads to a decisive acceleration towards the ecological transition,” the pope established in a message read by the number two of the Vatican, the cardinal and secretary of Pietro Parolin State. Bergoglio, who was going to be present at the climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, had to give up moments before due to bronchitis.
The Supreme Pontiff explained that the process must occur through “efficient, mandatory and easily monitored” mechanisms in four key areas that he pointed out as “energy efficiency, renewable sources, the elimination of fossil fuels and education in lifestyles less dependent on the latter”.
“Please, let us go forward, not backward,” asked Francis, who has taken care of the environment as his banner throughout his papacy, having dedicated his encyclical Laudato Si to the issue in 2015 – a 200-page manifesto. for an “integral ecology”–, and on October 4, an apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, which asks the great powers to abandon fossil energies.
His message comes in a critical context, in which the Secretary General of the WMO, the Finnish Petteri Taalas, released the latest statistics on climate change in 2023 and warned that it is no longer within humanity’s reach to return to the climate of the last century, and that we must continue working to prevent it from getting worse.
“We cannot return to the climate of the 20th century, but we must act now to limit the risks of a more inhospitable climate in this century and those to come,” said the manager when commenting on the WMO interim report for 2023, presented today in conjunction with COP28.
Taalas insisted on the need to create a warning system for extreme weather phenomena, which is estimated to be operational globally in 2027, after the current year was once again marked by floods, heat waves, forest fires and cyclones that “destroy lives and livelihoods every day, so everyone needs to be protected through early warning services.
In line with this, a document recently published by the company specialized in climate risk measurement XDI reported that one in twelve hospitals in the world is at risk of having to close partially or completely at the end of the century due to this type of extreme weather events.
“Our analysis shows that without a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, global health risks will increase further as thousands of hospitals will be unable to provide services during crises,” said Karl Mallon, Director of Science and Technology at XDI. .
According to the report, if global warming is not stopped, 16,245 hospitals will be affected by total or partial closures by the end of the century.
